No. 20 BYU upsets Bradford-less No. 3 OU 14-13

ARLINGTON, Texas(AP) -- Coming off a trip to the national title
game, and having Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford back under
center, Oklahoma had grand expectations this season.

One jarring hit might've changed everything for the Sooners -
and BYU.

Bradford sprained his throwing shoulder in the closing seconds
of the first half. A mediocre performance by his backup, a
questionable decision by coach Bob Stoops and a late meltdown by
OU's defense let Max Hall and the 20th-ranked Cougars pull out a
14-13 victory Saturday night in the first college football game
at Cowboys Stadium.

The severity of Bradford's injury won't be known for days. But
there's no doubt this dents his bid to repeat as the Heisman
winner and it throws Oklahoma's championship hopes for a loop.

"This loss hurts," Sooners offensive lineman Brian Simmons said.
"But the last two or three years, the national champion has had
one loss. There's still a chance for us to accomplish our
goals."

For Hall and BYU, this victory could be a springboard for their
most memorable season in decades. It turns them into a top
candidate to be the latest BCS busters from the Mountain West
and it should shove Hall to the fringe of the Heisman
discussion.

"Where it's going to rank and all that, I'm not certain, but I
know there are a lot of people who are going to benefit from the
way these kids played today," Cougars coach Bronco Mendenhall
said.

Hall was 26 of 38 for 329 yards and two touchdowns, with two
interceptions and four sacks. What matters most is that when he
had a chance to win it, he pulled off a 16-play, 78-yard drive,
converting on a fourth-and-4 and throwing for a 7-yard touchdown
to a wide-open McKay Jacobson in the back of the end zone with
3:03 left in the fourth to put BYU ahead for good.

"Unbelievable," said Hall, a nephew of former Cowboys
quarterback Danny White. "For us to come out and pull off a win
is a special night. I'll never forget it."

Neither will Sooners fans.

They'll wonder if an offensive line featuring four new starters
was to blame for BYU linebacker Coleby Clawson plowing into
Bradford with a hard, clean hit that left them both landing on
Bradford's shoulder.

And they'll wonder whether Stoops played it safe when - as it
turns out - they needed him to get a little risky.

It was midway through the fourth quarter with Oklahoma leading
10-7 and backup quarterback Landry Jones had just gotten stuffed
on third-and-goal from the 1. Stoops let Jones go for it on
fourth down, but the redshirt freshman failed to get the snap
off in time. The penalty pushed OU back to the 6, so Stoops
opted for the field goal and a 13-7 lead, knowing a touchdown
would put them behind.

"I did (think about going for it)," Stoops said. "That's on us
as coaches."

After BYU's go-ahead score, the Sooners still had a chance to
win.

Jones got them to the Cougars' 32, then they were pushed back by
a false start penalty on new right tackle Cory Brandon. It was
his fifth penalty and the ninth of the game for the OU line,
although two were declined.

Oklahoma was stuck with fourth-and-14 from the 37, with 1:23
left. Rather than ask Jones to turn that into a first down,
Stoops asked punter Tress Way to try a 54-yard field goal
because he'd seen the freshman bang it through from 53 in
warmups.

The kick died in the end zone.

"I felt comfortable going out there in the second half," said
Jones, who was 6 of 12 for 51 yards. "I thought we had a chance
to win the game. We just came up short."

Although this nearly $1.2 billion stadium was supposedly a
neutral site, the Sooners enjoyed a huge home-field advantage.

The vast majority of the crowd of 75,437 were wearing OU's
crimson and made themselves heard by hollering "home of the
SOONERS" at the end of the national anthem. They roared in the
second quarter when former football coach Barry Switzer and
current men's basketball coach Jeff Capel were shown sitting
together, but didn't have much to cheer after that.

Actually, the Sooners never really got into a groove, even with
Bradford.

He finished 10 of 14 for 96 yards and a touchdown. On the play
before he was hurt, Bradford threw his longest completion of the
game, an 18-yarder to Brandon Caleb. It also gave Bradford 7,937
yards passing for his career, breaking the school record held by
another OU Heisman winner, Jason White.

Oklahoma's backfield duo of incumbent 1,000-yard rushers DeMarco
Murray and Chris Brown weren't much of a factor, with Brown
gaining 59 yards on 14 carries and Murray getting 58 yards on 10
tries. The Sooners were also without tight end Jermaine Gresham
(knee).

BYU was missing starting running back Harvey Unga (hamstring),
so backup Bryan Kariya filled in nicely with 42 yards rushing
and 76 more yards on four receptions. Andrew George caught a
5-yard touchdown pass with 1:25 left in the first half that tied
it at 7.

Jacobson caught four passes for 69 yards. A product of nearby
Southlake who is just back from a Mormon mission, the touchdown
had even more meaning because it was his muffed punt that led to
Oklahoma's only touchdown, an 8-yard pass from Bradford to Ryan
Broyles.

The Sooners are 0-1 for only the second time in 11 seasons under
Stoops. With Idaho State, Tulsa and an off week coming up in the
next three weeks, Oklahoma should be able to get by for a while
without Bradford.